California - Judge rules furloughs illegal

Judge rules furloughs illegal for prison guards
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch rules that the governor's furlough order violates state law. He orders the state to pay prison workers for unpaid hours worked.

By Shane Goldmacher

December 18, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento
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A state judge on Thursday struck down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furloughs of correctional officers, who have been working on furlough days and banking the unpaid time off.

Judge Frank Roesch of Alameda County Superior Court ruled that the governor's furlough order violated state law. He ordered the state to pay the prison workers for the unpaid hours they have worked.

To save money, Schwarzenegger last summer began furloughing for three days a month nearly every category of state worker.

"We're gratified by the affirmation of the court that the governor was violating wage and hour laws," said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., which filed the lawsuit. "In essence, you can't expect people to work for free."

Furlough days are not supposed to be cashed out; workers were ordered to take the days off before June 2012.

An October report from the state Senate said workers in the prison system had banked 1.5 million unused furlough hours in the first seven months of the program. Those hours are worth $52 million at the current pay rate for prison guards. Correctional workers had also accrued 1 million hours of unused vacation through August.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Rachel Arrezola said the administration would appeal the judge's decision.

"The governor does not believe that state workers should be shielded from the same economic realities that every California family and business is facing," she said.

Thursday's ruling was not the first legal setback for the Schwarzenegger administration over the issue of furloughs.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year that workers at the State Compensation Insurance Fund should be exempt from the order. Judge Charlotte Walter Woolard said those workers were due back pay plus interest.

Three other challenges to the furloughs are pending in Alameda County Superior Court. Roesch is the presiding judge in each case.
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Judge orders the governor to halt employee furloughs
December 31, 2009 | 6:14 pm

A Superior Court judge today ordered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt thrice-monthly furloughs for tens of thousands of state workers, saying the administration overstepped its authority in approving the unpaid days off.

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said the governor would appeal the decision of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch in favor of three state employee unions, including the Service Employees International Union Local 1000. The unions had filed suit after the governor began the furloughs in February in response to a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.

The judge ruled that the governor’s use of the state Emergency Services Act to furlough state workers because the state did not have a budget at the time had limits.

“...The emergency necessitating them was the failure of the Legislature to pass the budgets, though the reach of the orders extended long after those budgets were subsequently passed and signed into law," the judge wrote.

Roesch also ruled that furloughing state employees who are paid from special funds illegally interferes with the operation of specially funded agencies.

He said the governor’s use of furloughs was an “abuse of discretion” and that he “violated a mandatory duty to take into account the agencies varying needs before reducing workplace hours.”

The governor plans to appeal Roesch’s decision and noted that the order blocking the furloughs would be stayed until the appeal is ruled on, said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger.

“Ultimately this will be decided by the state Supreme Court,” McLear said. “The governor absolutely has the authority to issue furloughs and we feel the state Supreme Court will rule in our favor.”

The lawsuit also was filed by CASE (California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment) and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists.

--Patrick McGreevy